US tariffs on Chinese imports of around 55 per cent are a “good status quo,” but the Trump administration would like to find areas where bilateral trade could increase more freely, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday. Advertisement Greer’s comments at the Economic Club of New York indicated no immediate move towards lowering US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods ahead of a November 10 deadline for the expiration of a trade truce between the world’s two largest economies. “If you ask the president, ‘Do we have…
Month: September 2025
Delayed US report on global human trafficking is released
The US Department of State has released a long-delayed, legally required report on human trafficking after an investigation by the Guardian and bipartisan pressure from Congress. The 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which details conditions in the United States and more than 185 countries, was initially scheduled for release at an event in June featuring the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the Guardian has reported, but the event was scrapped and staff at the state department office charged with leading the federal government’s fight against human trafficking were…
Colombia’s Petro fires own Beijing embassy team for ‘sabotaging’ China outreach
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered the removal of diplomats from his country’s embassy in Beijing, accusing them of sabotaging relations with China as Bogota pivots sharply away from Washington. Advertisement “There is a foreign ministry [here] that feels ashamed of engaging with China and sabotages relations. All those people have to go,” Petro told ministers on Tuesday. He said diplomats in Beijing had altered his schedule and cancelled meetings without authorisation when he visited the country in the spring. “That is not relating to humanity. That is colonialism,” he…
Trial begins in killing of former Cambodian lawmaker
BANGKOK – A trial began Tuesday for a man alleged to have shot and killed Cambodian opposition politician Lim Kimya during a brazen daytime attack in the Thai capital earlier this year. Lim Kimya’s widow, Lim Ani, told reporters outside the courthouse that she wanted to know why her husband was murdered. “I want to know the story behind the case. Who the masterminds were. I believe the judicial system here could help,” she said through a translator. “His death has turned everything upside down in my daily life,” she…
Sir Terry Farrell obituary
Terry Farrell, who has died aged 87, was arguably the most influential and prolific of the architects associated with the British postmodern movement. At the start of his private practice in 1965 he worked in partnership with Nicholas Grimshaw, and a few years later he seemed destined to join Richard Rogers and Norman Foster as a “high-tech” pioneer, the first movement in British architecture to achieve worldwide recognition since the arts and crafts designers of the late 19th century. A residential tower in St John’s Wood of 1970, streamlined and…
A world with two predatory superpowers
Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world Donald Trump’s second term is transforming the world. It is quite likely that the autocratic regime he and his minions in the administration and the Supreme Court are creating will endure. Yet even if it does not, it will have changed the world simply because it has happened. What has happened once can happen again. This must transform views of the future. Yet that future will not just…
Critics take aim at China’s new K visa for foreign STEM talent
Competition, a struggling job market and immigration fears are fuelling criticism in China of the country’s new K visa programme, a scheme designed to attract foreign STEM talent. Advertisement Unveiled in August and set to launch on Wednesday, the programme attracted an unexpected public backlash this week, with many voicing concerns about its potential impact on local employment and immigration. Public policy analysts said greater transparency, clearer messaging and strict oversight were needed to address domestic unease. The K visa is aimed at young foreign graduates in science, technology, engineering…
Xi renews warning against Taiwan independence in National Day address
Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a sharp warning over the issue of Taiwan in his annual National Day address on Tuesday, saying Beijing must firmly oppose “external interference” and safeguard its territorial integrity. Advertisement Xi also used his speech to pledge to “practice true multilateralism”, in what has been a consistent message from Chinese officials framing Beijing as a source of stability and a defender of the world order amid global changes. He said Beijing must deepen cross-strait exchanges with Taiwan, “firmly oppose separatist activities seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and external…
China probes quant trader Tower Research over chip imports
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. US quant trading giant Tower Research Capital is under investigation in China on suspicion of smuggling advanced trading hardware into the country. Chinese customs authorities are examining whether New York-based Tower installed customised processors and networking hardware at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) that did not match an earlier customs declaration, according to three people with knowledge of the investigation. The Shanghai Special Commissioner’s Office of China’s General Administration of Customs,…
China’s own ‘Golden Dome’, Xi calls to Sinicise religions: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China deploys prototype of missile defence system with planet-wide coverage China has deployed a working prototype of a global defence system similar to the United States’ proposed Golden Dome, while hailing a breakthrough in data processing technology for worldwide threat management, according to scientists involved in the project. 2. Top battery scientist Stefano Passerini relocates from Germany to China World-leading battery scientist Stefano Passerini…